Process for sewing concealed slide fasteners



Oct. 3, 1961 B. DUCHAN PROCESS FOR SEWING CONCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS Filed Oct. 28, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BEA/JA/f/A/ 0067744 BY W.W

A TTOAME X Oct. 3, 1961 B. DUCHAN 3,002,478

PROCESS FOR SEWING CONCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS Filed Oct. 28, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 2 ran - INVENTOR. BAWJA/W/V DUCH/I/V Mu. W

ATTQP/VEK Oct. 3, 1961 B. DUCHAN PROCESS FOR SEWING CONCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 28, 1957 Zlfif INVENTOR. BE/VJA/V/A fiW/A/V MHW 3,002,478 PROCESS FOR SEWING CONCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS.

Benjamin Duchan, Bronx, N.Y., assignor to Placket Closing Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 692,772 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-262) The present invention relates to a machine and process for sewing concealed slide fasteners, and more particularly to a machine and process for sewing concealed slide fasteners wherein the sewn-in slide fastener closely resembles a seam when the slide fastener is closed, and wherein the stitching joining the slide fastener to the cloth of the garment to which it is attached is concealed.

In articles of wearing apparel where fashion is important, it has long been desirable to conceal slide fasteners, so that the same are not revealed when the garment is worn with the slide fastener in its closed disposition. In particular, it has long been desirable to provide garments, such as dresses, with concealed slide fasteners which in their closed disposition closely simulate a seam, and which may be colinear with a true seam in the garment and appear to be a portion of such seam when the slide fastener is in its closed disposition.

The accomplishment of the aforesaid desiderata has been impeded by a number of problems. Thus, it is necessary to sew the tapes on which the slide fastener elements are carried onto the garment, and the concealment of the lines of stitching which are parallel to the simulated seam effected by the closed slide fastener has proven to be diflicult. Moreover, to effect the optimum mounting of a concealed slide fastener it is necessary that the line of stitching joining the tape carrying the slide fastener elements and the juxtaposed cloth of the garment be as close as possible to the slide fastener elements. This has proved to be a most diflicult problem since present day demands upon the clothing industry require high speed installation of slide fasteners.

This invention has as an object the provision of a machine for sewing concealed slide fasteners onto a juxtaposed cloth.

This invention has as another object the provision of a machine which can sew concealed slide fasteners onto juxtaposed cloth at a rapid rate with a minimum of manual operation.

This invention has as yet another object the provision of a machine for sewing concealed slide fasteners onto a cloth so that the line of stitching joining the concealed slide fastener to the cloth is concealed. This invention has as still another object the provision of a machine for sewing concealed slide fastener onto cloth in such manner that when the concealed slide fasteners are in their closed disposition the appearance of a genuine seam is closely simulated.

This invention has as yet another object the provision of a process for sewing concealed slidefasteners to cloth.

This invention has as still another object the provision of a process for sewing concealed slide fasteners to cloth in which the stitching joining the concealed slidefastener i hidden from view after the process has been completed.

This invention has as still another object the provision of a process for rapidly sewing a concealed slide fastener onto cloth.

Other objects will appearhereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

States Patent 3,002,478 Patented Oct. 3, 1961 Referring to the following drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like parts:

FIGURE 1 is a plan fragmentary view, viewed from above, of the presser foot and needle plate portion of the sewing machine of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view similar to that of FIGURE 1, except that the presser foot is removed in order that clarity of underlying parts may be had.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the portion of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the portion of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through the presser foot and needle plate on line 55 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view revealing the manner in which a tape bearing slide fastener elements is stitched to cloth by the machine of the present invention in accordance with the process of the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a view demonstrating the appearance of a concealed slide fastener when the same is in its closed disposition attached to cloth in accordance with the process of the present invention, such view demonstrating the seam-like appearance of such slide fastener.

FIGURE 9 is a section taken on line 99 of FIG- URE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a view revealing a concealed slide fastener of the type which may be utilized in the' process of the present invention.

FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic view revealing the first stage of the process of the present invention.

FIGURE 12 is a diagrammatic view revealing a later stage of the process than is revealed in FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a diagrammatic view of a still later stage of the process than is revealed in FIGURE 12.

FIGURE 14 is a diagrammatic view of the final stage in the process of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGURES 1 through 5 inclusive, the machine of the present invention is designated generally as 20. Such machine may comprise a single needle lock stitch sewing machine. For the sake of simplicity and clarity of presentation, only those portions of the machine needed to comprehend the present invention will be described herein, it being understood that the remainder of the machine may be of conventional construction. The machine 20 includes a presser bar 22 in which is held by means of set screw 24 the presser foot '26. The presser foot 26 includes an outer edge 28 which is disposed above the outer edge 30 of throat plate or needle plate 32. An appreciable'portion of the outer edge 28 of presser foot 26 and the outer edge 30 of needle plate 32 comprise a substantially straight line running cross-wise across the needle plate 32, with the straight portion of the outer edge 28 of presser foot 26 being disposed above, parallel, and slightly inwardly of the straight portion of outer edge 30 of needle plate 32. The inward offset of outer edge 28 of presser foot 26 in respect to outer edge 30 of needle plate 32 is spaced a distance approximately equal to the lateral dimension of the elements 74 of the slide fastener 68 which is to be sewn by the machine of the present invention (see FIG- URES 6 and 7). Both the needle guide hole 34 of presser foot 26 and the needle 'hole 36 of needle plate 32 are positioned very closely adjacent the respective outer edges 28 and 30.

The presser foot 26 curves inwardly at 38 from outer edge 28 to form the toe portion 40 of presser foot 26. The presser foot 26 also includes a straight innermost side 42 disposed above and somewhat inside the inside edge 44 of needle plate 32. A needle 46 of conventional structure is carried by needle bar 48 and is reciprocally movable through the needle guide hole 34 of presser foot 26 and the needle hole 36 of needle plate 32. An end plate 50 of Conventional construction for permitting access to the contents of the post 52 is provided adjacent the needle plate 32. The housing 54 forming the post 52 is so-formed that it is colinear with the generally straight line formed by the outer edge 30 of needle plate 32. Thus, the outer edge 56 of the post housing 54 comprises an extension of the straight outer edge portion 30a which are adjacent the front and rear retention screws 57 and 58 which maintain the needle plate 32 in position. The outer edge portion 30a are straight and linear and may be colinear or slightly offset from the outer edge 30. The outer edge 30, outer edge portions 30a and outer edges 56 of the post housing 54 are raised above the portion 59 of post housing 54 a distance appreciably greater than the width of the slide fastener elements 74. Edge 30 is generally perpendicular for its height above portion 59 (see FIGURE 7). The needle plate 32 is slotted at 60 to provide for the outward projection of a conventional feed dog or feed claw 62.

The outer edge 30 of the needle plate 32 is recessed intermediate the needle hole 36 and the rear retention screw 58 to provide for the projection of the feed dog 64. The construction of the feed dog 64 is likewise conventional, and the particular construction of this element forms no part of the present invention. The feed dog 64 in combination with the feed claw 62 serve to advance the cloth undergoing stitching away from the toe portion 40 of presser foot 26, namely in the direction of the arrows forming 5 in FIGURE 1.

The manner in which the sewing of a concealed slide fastener to cloth is effected in accordance with the present invention is shown particularly in FIGURES 6 and 7, with the process of the present invention being shown in FIGURES 11 through 14 inclusive.

A form of concealed slide fastener which may be utilized in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIGURE 10. The precise construction of the concealed slide fastener forms no part of the present invention, a wide variety of such concealed slide fasteners being described in the art. A suitable example of a concealed slide fastener which may be utilized in the present invention is that disclosed in United States Letters Patent 2,738,560 issued March 20, 1956, to Jacques Hug entitled Concealed Slide-Fasteners." The finished sewn article is shown in FIGURES 8 and 9, and by reference to FIG- URES 9 and a sufiicient understanding of the concealed slide fastener used in the process of the present invention may be had.

The slide fastener 68 includes a pair of element supporting tapes 70 and 72 on which the elements 74 of the concealed slide fastener 68 are carried. The tapes 70 and 72 are permanently united together by means of clip 76 at the lowermost portion of the tapes 70 and 72. The concealed slide fastener 68 includes the slider 78 which carries the tab 80.

As seen particularly in FIGURE 9, the elements 74 are carried on folded-in inner edges of the tapes 70 and 72, the inner edges of the tapes 70 and 72 being welted at 82 to provide means for anchoring the elements 74. The fastener elements 74 on each of the tapes 70 and 72 are identical. Each fastener element has first and second arms gripping opposite sides of said tapes and a tooth 83 extending from said second arm. Since the elements 74 are disposed behind the inner edges of the tapes 70 and 72 and since the slider 78 rides on the inside and outside of the elements 74, when the concealed slide fastener 68 is closed (see FIGURES 8 and 10) substantially only the tab 80 is exposed to view.

As shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, a tape 70 is joined to the cloth 84. The cloth 84 includes a sewn seam 86 above the concealed slide fastener 68 and a sewn seam 88 below the concealed slide fastener 68, such seams join- 4 ing the cloth 84 to the cloth 90 (see FIGURE 8). The cloth 84 is folded back along fold line 92 (see FIGURE 7) to form the exposed major portion of the cloth designated 84a and the folder-under portion of the cloth 8412, such folder-under portion of the cloth being juxtaposed to the tape 70.

As seen particularly in FIGURE 7 the distance between the outer edge 28 of presser foot 26 and the outer edge 30 of needle plate 32 is approximately equal to the lateral dimension of the elements 74. Thus, as seen particularly in FIGURES 6 and 7 the elements 74 are rested on the needle plate 32 above the outer edge 30 and the small margin of the needle plate 32 intermediate the outer edge 30 and the outer edge 28 of presser foot 26.

The line of stitching 94 is secured closely adjacent the elements 74 since the needle guide hole 34 of presser foot 26 is closely adjacent the outer edge 28 of presser foot 26. In this manner both the tapes 70 and 72 may be secured to the cloth by lines of stitching which are close to and parallel to the elements 74 carried on such tapes.

Folding back of the major portion 84a over the foldedunder portion 8412 will conceal the line of stitching 94 so that such line of stitching 94 (and its similar line of stitching 96 on tape '72) may not be seen when the outside of the cloth is viewed (seeFIGURE 8).

The process of the present invention for sewing a concealed slide fastener 68 to cloth 84, which is folded along fold line 92 into major portion 84a and fold-under portion 84b, and cloth 90, which is folded along fold line 98 into major portion 9% and folded-under portion 90b, is shown in FIGURES 11 through 14 inclusive. The means and method for applying the line of stitching 94 to join the tape 70 to folder-under portion 8411 has already been described, and the identical means and method is utilized for stitching by line of stitching 96 to the tape 72 to folded-under portion 90b of cloth 90.

The first step of the process of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 11. The concealed slide fastener is juxtaposed to the folded-under portions 84b and 90b, thus, the tape 70 is juxtaposed to the folded-under portion 84b and the tape 72 is juxtaposed to the folded-under portion 90b. The concealed slide fastener is linearly aligned so that its elements cover the gap portion between seams 86 and 88. The clip 76 of concealed slide fastener 68 is positioned adjacent the seam 88.

The slider 78 is moved adjacent the clip 76, namely near the bottom of the concealed slide fastener 68. Then with the elements of the tape 72 disposed in the manner shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 the line of stitching 96 is sewn closely adjacent the elements 74 of such tape 72 down to the point designated A in FIGURE 11. The location of point A is not critical as long as the same is at an appreciable distance from the ends of the concealed slide fastener, but preferably, as shown in FIGURE 11 such point A should be about three-quarters of the distance towards the clip 76 from the uppermost of the elements 74. When point A is reached, the slider 78 should be moved upwardly well above point A such as to the uppermost portion of the elements 74, and the line of stitching 96 should be continued to the end of tape 72 beyond clip 76. The movement of the slider 78 can be accomplished because as shown in FIGURES 1 through 4 inclusive the outer edge 30 of needle plate '32 and the outer edge 56 of housing 54 lie generally in a straight line and are offset a distance equal to the lateral dimension of the mounted slide fastener elements 74 so that movement of such slider 78 may be accomplished from the region below point A to a region appreciably above it.

When line of stitching 96 has been completed, namely when the line of stitching has been extended from point A to the end of tape 72, as shown in FIGURE 12, the concealed slide fastener 68 and its associated cloth 84 and 90 are reversed. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 13 the clip 76 instead of being adjacent the operator of the machine 20 (who is positioned facing the toe portion 40 of presser foot 26) is at the far end of the concealed slide fastener 68 from the operator. The slider 78 is transferred a distance from the clip 76, such as beyond the point B shown in FIGURES 13 and 14. As with the point A, the position of the point B is not critical except that it should be removed an appreciable distance from the ends of the elements 74. Thus, point B may be a third of the distance away from clip 7-6 on the string of elements 74 carried by the tapes 70- and 72. The line of stitching 94 is commenced at the uppermost end of tape 70, the means and method demonstrated in FIGURES 6 and 7 being utilized' Such line of stitching is continued to the point B as shown in FIGURE 13.

When point B is reached, the slider is transferred from its position below point B towards the clip 76, preferably adjacent the clip 76 as shown in FIGURE 14. The line of stitching 94 is then continued from point B to the end of tape 70 adjacent the operator of the machine. This last step, shown in FIGURE 14, completes the process.

Since, as heretofore indicated, the parallel lines of stitching 94 and 96, which are separated from each other by a distance just slightly greater than the width dimensions of the interlocked elements 74 when the same are closed, are concealed, since the major portion 84a of cloth 84 and the major portion 90a of cloth 90 are folded about the fold lines 92 and 98 which are intermediate the lines of stitching 94 and 96. Such fold lines 92 and 98 are formed from the seams 86 and 8 8 and are preserved by the lines of stitching 94 and 96.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A process for sewing a concealed slide fastener to a pair of cloth members in a manner whereby the cloth members will closely simulate a sewn seam and conceal the slide fastener comprising the steps of folding each cloth member of the pair along a straight fold line to form two plies on each cloth member, arranging the folded cloth members side-by-side with their fold lines adjacent one another, stitching the cloth members along their fold lines at spaced points, placing a first slide fastener tape over a folded ply of one of the cloth members by juxtaposing said first tape to said folded ply on said one cloth member between said points with the fastener elements on said first tape being adjacent the fold line on said one cloth member, each fastener element having first and second arms gripping opposite sides of said first tape and a tooth extending from said second arm, aligning fastener elements on said first tape in an upright position with said first arms disposed along the outside edge of a presser foot, said presser foot having a needle hole in the form of a notch on said outside edge, stitching said first tape to said ply of said one cloth member by a first line of stitching which is closely adjacent to and parallel to the fastener elements carried by said first tape, placing a second slide fastener tape over a folded ply of the other cloth member between said points by juxtaposing said second tape to said last mentioned folded ply, said second tape having fastener elements secured thereto identical with said first tape and its respective fastener elements, aligning the fastener elements on said second tape in an upright position along the outside edge of said presser foot, stitching said second tape to said last mentioned ply by a second line of stitching which is closely adjacent to and parallel to fastener elements carried by said second tape, superposing the remaining ply of each cloth member over said lines of stitching by bending said remaining plies along the fold lines, and engaging the fastener elements so that the fastener elements on each tape are concealed by the juxtaposed fold lines of said cloth members which simulate a sewn seam.

2. A proces in accordance with claim 1 wherein said step of providing said first line of stitching includes stopping said first line of stitching at a point intermediate the ends of said first tape, then moving the slider on said tapes to a point alongside of a stitched portion of said first line of stitching without raising the presser foot, then completing said first line of stitching, and said step of providing said second line of stitching includes stopping said second line of stitching at a point intermediate the ends of said second tape, moving the slider on said tapes to a position alongside of a stitched portion on said second line of stitching without raising the presser foot, then completing said second line of stitching.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,002,306 Berlin et al May 21, 1935 2,078,874 Friedman Apr. 27, 1937 2,277,832 Rhoads et al Mar. 31, 1942 2,623,214 Yaife Dec. 30, 1952 2,629,875 Geissmann Mar. 3, 1953 2,655,884 Rohrlick et al. Oct. 20, 1953 2,697,227 Prupis et a1 Dec. 21, 1954 2,776,635 Blumenkrantz Jan. 8, 1957 2,909,136 Dixon et al. Oct. 20, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 166,326 Australia Dec. 14, 1955 745,564 Great Britain Feb. 29, 1956 

